They gave it their all, but ultimately Shelbourne's hopes of causing a memorable upset were ended early on at Tolka Park last night by two defensive errors inside the opening quarter of an hour. Rosenborg now have their eyes firmly set on the Champions League third qualifying round. Richie Foran's fine goal from a diving header on the hour and Christer Basra's crashing drive off his own bar, while under pressure late on, almost produced an unforgettable comeback, but it didn't quite come off for Dermot Keely's men. Once again they learned the harsh realities of football at this level.
For all their guts and determination, a game that came close to filling the Drumcondra ground had to be chased from the 14th minute when Rosenborg's Fredrik Winsnes scored the second goal of the night. From then until Petter Belsvik's heartbreaking strike a minute from time, Shelbourne steadily came to grips with their opponents and gradually got on top of the game. However, Nils Arne Eggem and his men have been in tougher spots over the past couple of seasons and they did enough in the end to be very confident of progressing after next Wednesday's second leg.
The home side's troubles began inside two minutes with Orjan Berg's opener, more the result of some terrible defending around the six-yard box than any great ingenuity on the part of the scorer. The second goal, though, appeared to make Shelbourne's position hopeless.
The strike, after a quick break by the Norwegians had apparently run into a dead end, went some way towards summing up the difference in class between the two sides. While the home side had two clear-cut chances to level the game after going behind early on, Richie Baker narrowly missed the target from 20 yards before Stephen Geoghegan sent his shot straight towards the goalkeeper from a third of the distance.
From Geoghegan's miss the visitors broke quickly and having had his own path blocked, Frode Johnsen set up his 26-year-old team-mate with a calmly played lay-off. Winsnes drilled his shot low through a couple of sets of legs towards the bottom left corner. Having seen it late, there was nothing Steve Williams could do about it.
After that, Dermot Keely and his players had to be conscious about allowing themselves to be over-run at the back as they chased the game at the other end of the pitch. To their credit they got the balance just about right, working hard to impose themselves on the game and continuing to get in amongst a defence that has been conceding more than a goal a game in their domestic outings this season.
It wasn't hard to see why. Certainly Richie Baker, who started on the left side of the home side's attack while his brother played out wide on the right, caused Basma, a 27-year-old right back with a handful of caps to his credit, no end of problems. Through the centre, even more experienced men seemed incapable of coping with players arriving from midfield in support of the youngster.
When the Bakers reverted to their more usual roles and Foran came on for Stephen Geoghegan, the pattern was altered slightly, but the visiting side's problems only seemed to multiply. Gradually their composure began to disappear and had they not had a lead to defend, they would surely have been in very great difficulty. With even a 2-2 draw representing a decent haul away from home in European competition, though, they didn't panic even when Foran found the net 30 minutes from time.
Ultimately, the home team had the passion but not the know-how to beat a quality side who showed themselves capable when it mattered late on of holding their nerve.
Shelbourne: Williams; Heary, Scully, McCarthy, Hutchison; D Baker, Haylock, Fenlon, Keddy; S Geoghegan, R Baker. Subs: Byrne and Foran for Haylock and Geoghegan (half-time), Gilzean for D Baker (75 mins).
Rosenborg: Arason; Basma, B Johnsen, Hoftun, Stensaas; Winsnes, Skammelsrud, Berg; R Strand, F Johnsen, Sorensen. Subs: Belsvik for F Johnsen (70 mins), Hernes for Strand (84 mins), Knutsen for Sorensen (90 mins).
Referee: I Ivanson (Bulgaria).
